Why Don't You and I?
by CharlieSinclaire
Summary: The marauders' seventh year. James has been made Head Boy and a war is being battled right outside the walls of Hogwarts. It's time for children to become adults, but knowing this fact doesn't make it any easier. James struggles to find his way in a world where people are beginning to expect more from him than ever before. James/Lily, Marauders, Seventh Year
1. Why me?

Why Don't You and I?

James Potter stood in his room staring at the shiny piece of metal that he had grasped in his hand. He wasn't sure how long he had been standing like this, but at that moment in time he wasn't sure that he could bring himself to care. His brain was much too focused on processing this information that he knew must be true, but he could not bring himself to believe. He rapidly blinked his eyes clearing his vision and reassuring himself that the depiction in front of him was not some figment of his imagination. Earlier, when his Hogwarts letter first arrived, he had pinched himself confirming that this was not a dream. The aforementioned letter was not strewn upon his bed, completely forgotten, as he continued to stare at the object in his hand.

Clearly inscribed across the smooth surface of the object in a thick block print were the words Head Boy. It still seemed too surreal for James to even comprehend, but no matter what he did, it was impossible for him to refute the evidence that sat so clearly in front of his face. By some twist of fate he had been selected to be head boy out of all of the other seventh year boys. He tried to place himself in his professors' shoes and figure just what exactly they had been thinking when they had awarded him this position. James knew he had the grades to qualify for the position – even without trying he always managed to get O's in all of his classes with ease. That was the first and only thing James could think of that would recommend him to becoming Head Boy. He knew that even though he obtained excellent marks each term, his work ethic was not something to be looked upon proudly and he often spent most of his time in class planning pranks with Sirius rather than paying attention to his professors. He also knew that most, if not all, of his professors were of aware of this fact because he more often than not ended up in detention due to his tardiness and lack of attention.

Since his arrival at Hogwarts, James had been informed, by more than one ghost who had overheard a conversation in the teacher's lounge stating that he and Sirius had broken the long standing records for most detentions received at Hogwarts. In fact, one of these informants had even speculated that they may have doubled the record in its entirety. Although James saw this accomplishment as a point of pride for Sirius and himself, he doubted that it was looked upon kindly by the professors when they were choosing him for the position of Head Boy. This then brought him back to original point of confusion: how had he been selected for this position over all of the other boys in his year? Unless every other boy in his year had been mysteriously enrolled in another school, which even he had to admit was highly unlikely, there must have been some other poor sap who was much more qualified for this position than he would ever be.

He could name one person who deserved this more than himself off the top of his head. His friend Remus, who had been a prefect for the last two years, would be much better suited to the role of Head Boy. Although Remus was involved in his own share of pranks, he rarely got caught and was therefore a much more model student in the eyes of the teachers. He also always paid attention in class and did everything he could to toe the line. The only class he struggled in was potions, but the teachers couldn't really hold one class against him, especially because he dropped it after taking his O.W.L.s. The only reasonable explanation that James could come up with at the present moment was that all of his professors had been hit with a confundus charm before they had made their final decision.

As he stood there contemplating this new theory, James heard the boisterous footsteps of his best friend, a couple floors down, making their way up to the stairs that led to his bedroom. He knew that in a very short time Sirius would be bursting into his room to plan their yearly Diagon Alley trip. Looking back down to his hand, James eyed the door to his room wearily. In just a few moments he knew that he would be on the receiving end of a line of never-ending jokes from Sirius. Sirius was nearly unbearable when Remus, who they all agreed deserved to be a Prefect, had obtained his badge. James could not imagine what Sirius would be like when he saw the Head Boy badge. Making a split second decision, James slipped the badge in the pocket of his pants, deciding that he would break the news to his best friend at a later time, possible at the start of term feast. At that exact moment Sirius threw open his door and came bounding in with a large smile across his face.

"Prongs! This is it buddy, our last trip to Diagon Alley together as students!" Sirius made this statement excitedly as he threw himself upon James' bed.

Ever since the two of them had met on the train ride first year, they had been inseparable and had never missed going to Diagon Alley with one another. Normally, this trip involved a lot of strategic planning so that Sirius could sneak out of his house without his parents knowing – they didn't much care for his association with other Gryffindors. However, this summer was going to be much more convienient. A few weeks into the summer, Sirius had shown up at the Potter Manor one night, unannounced. This in itself was not a new occurrence because Sirius often showed up at James' house with any notification, often at whatever time of day or night suited his fancy. This time, however, he carried with him a trunk and a determination to never return to his parent's house that the Potters had not seen before. Most often, even when he and his parents had a big fight, he would state that he was only going to stay a couple days so things could cool off at home. This time, however, he declared that he would never return to that house as long as his parents existed under the roof.

As always, James' parents welcomed Sirius into the house with open arms and told him that he was welcome to stay as long as he needed to. James had spent many weeks trying to get his friend to tell him what exactly had happened to make him leave his house for good, but in the end received no further information about what had transpired. In fact, about two weeks into James pushing Sirius for more information, Sirius actually snapped, yelling at James to mind his own business. He had never seen Sirius as mad as he had been that day, as Sirius was often very relaxed and unaffected, so James decided to let the conversation drop. Whatever had happened between him and his parents had obviously affected Sirius and James figured Sirius would talk about it if and when he wanted to. He quickly shifted his focus to joining Sirius in having as much fun as the possibly could during their last summer before they turned to Hogwarts.

"…and I was thinking we should get Moony and Wormtail to get their butts down to Diagon Alley when we go." James snapped from his thoughts, only to realize that Sirius had been continuing to ramble on this entire time.

"Sounds good Padfoot. Should we pick you up some dog treats while we are there?" James ducked as a pillow went soaring by his head.

"That was one time! So did you see our booklist for this year? I swear the professors get together and find the toughest books they can give us." Sirius looked down at the pile of papers laying all over James' bed. "Did you get assigned different books than me or something? You have a lot more papers here than I got…"

James' eyes widened as Sirius reached over and grabbed the top piece of paper, containing his Head Boy instructions. Before James could even react, Sirius began reading the paper, his eyes growing wider and wider the more he read. James closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, waiting on his friend's inevitable action. Sirius did not disappoint either. Within moments, James heard roaring laughter coming from Sirius' direction. He cautiously opened his eyes to see Sirius clutching his sides with tears streaming down his face from the intense laughter. James stood there and crossed his arms, knowing that it would be impossible to speak to his friend until he had calmed himself down. Five whole minutes later, Sirius had finally regained control of himself to the point where the only thing escaping from his lips was a chuckle and h was able to wipe the tears streaming down his face.

"Prongs…that's a good one…I almost bought it for a minute…" Sirius managed to choke this out between his gasping breaths as his tried to calm himself down the rest of the way.

"It's not a joke Padfoot."

"You can give it up Prongs…I already said you got me good." Sirius gave him a smirk and James frowned a bit.

"I'm being serious…"

"Well stop being me then!"

James rolled his eyes at the vastly overused pun and reached into his pocket. Grasping the badge, he took a deep breath and withdrew it from its hiding place. Without giving himself time to second guess his decision, he tossed the badge to Sirius and watched as it landed in his friends lap. Sirius raised his eyebrow at James, a grin still plastered on his face, and reached down to pick up the object that had landed on his person. James watched as Sirius studied the badge with a look of surprise. Sirius then looked up at James, back down at the badge and then back up at James. He seemed to repeat this process a few more times before he allowed himself to attempt to speak.

"You…you…you…Head Boy?" The last part came out as a yelp. "This has to be a mistake."

"It's no mistake. You saw the letter, it is addressed to me." James sighed and fell back onto his bed in front of Sirius – he knew this would be a long conversation.

"It has to be. No one in their right mind would _ever_ give you Head Boy." James sat up at this,

"Why not?"

"Because you're you! You play pranks and sleep in class and…and…it just can't be you!" James covered his face with is hands,

"Well it is me and it stinks. Now I have to be… _responsible_." He spit that word out like it was poison.

This was the thing that had been worrying James since he had originally opened that letter. James knew on some level that he was going to have to grow up at some point, especially now that he would be graduating this year. He never thought that it would have to be this soon. He thought he would spend his last year at Hogwarts causing mayhem and having as much fun as he could with his three best friends. Now he was going to have to follow the rules and actually show some maturity. He shivered at the thought. He kept thinking about everything that would be expected of him and it made him nervous. He wasn't sure he could live up to all of the expectations that would surely be laid on his shoulders this year. He wasn't given much time to dwell on this fact because Sirius suddenly leapt from the bed with a mischievous look upon his face.

"Wait a minute Prongs, this is great! Now that you are Head Boy think of the possibilities. Think of the things that we could get away with. You have an excuse to be out after curfew, it's expected of you! You're also able to go pretty much wherever you want in the castle. Think about all the pranks we can pull. This is going to be the best year yet!" Sirius began pacing back and forth in the room rubbing his hands together.

James let out the breath he had been holding. This year might not be so bad at all. In fact, there were a lot of possibilities open to them if they used them properly. James chuckled, he was lucky to have a best friend like Sirius. Otherwise, he might have gone crazy trying to act like a Head Boy. He hadn't asked for the positon, so why should he change his plans for the year to accommodate this position that was thrust upon him unexpectedly? If the teachers didn't like the way he handled the position, they shouldn't have picked him in the first place.

"You're right Padfoot, now we need to come up with some wicked pranks for this year." Sirius looked at James like a thought had just occurred to him,

"You need to go show that badge to your mom right now! There's no way she could keep saying no to you getting a new broom if you show her your shiny new Head Boy badge."

Without a moment's hesitation, James grabbed the badge from Sirius' hands and raced out his bedroom door. Navigating his large house with an ease that came from living in it since he was a baby, he quickly located his mother out in her garden having her afternoon tea. He skidded to a stop right in front of her and stood there with his most serious face. He made sure to keep his hands behind his back, concealing the badge from her view.

"Mum I need to talk to you." His mother sighed and set down her cup of tea,

"What could have possible done now James?" Although her face was serious, he could hear a hint of joking in her voice.

"Sirius and I got our Hogwarts letters in the mail today and look what came with mine…" He paused dramatically before tossing her the badge he had been concealing.

His mother had pretty much the same reaction as Sirius had, minus the laughter. She sat there for quite a few moments just looking back and forth between the badge and him. She opened her mouth a few times to speak, but quickly closed it. This continued on until finally she cleared her throat and looked at James with a confused stare.

"Are you sure? This isn't some kind of prank is it?" James huffed,

"Is it really that hard to believe that I would be made Head Boy?" His mother raised an eyebrow at him,

"To be quite honest, yes it is." James laughed despite himself,

"Well I don't know what to tell you. I got a letter congratulating me on being selected to be Head Boy and you are holding the badge in your hand."

Before he knew what was happening, James' mother rose from her seat and rushed over to him, engulfing him a large hug. James' struggled to release himself from her grip, but realized the effort was fruitless because the more he tried to get away the tighter she held on. He eventually just gave in stood there until she finally released him from her grasp. Still gripping his shoulders, she began to speak,

"James I am so proud of you! After all the reports I have received from your professors about your behavior I never thought…well that doesn't matter. What matters is you have been Head Boy! You must have made a good impression somehow. I can't even express how happy I am right now." James grinned, this was the moment,

"So are you happy enough to get me that new broom I've been asking about all summer?"

 **A/N: So I hope you guys like my new story. Reviews are always appreciated!**


	2. Birds and Brooms

"…and you're sure it's not some kind of mistake?" Remus asked eyeing James with a look of skepticism.

James rolled his eyes for what felt like the millionth time in the past week. Ever since he had received his Hogwarts letter and his Head Boy badge along with it, it seemed that he had to confirm the event for everyone he spoke to. First Sirius, then his mother, then his father, who still didn't seemed to believe that James had been selected for the positon, then his other two best friends. Although he was still having trouble believing the selection himself, it would have been nice if even one person he told believed him the first time they heard about it.

"I knew you'd make Head Boy! They couldn't have picked anyone else better." Peter squeaked out from beside Remus.

Well, he wished someone would have believed him other than Peter, who seemed to believe anything that came out of his best friends' mouths. It wasn't that Peter was stupid, he couldn't have performed the Animagus transformations if he was. He just seemed to be obsessed with making James, Sirius and Remus happy. He always agreed with what they said and went along with all of their ideas even when he didn't want to. James sometimes felt sorry for Peter because he didn't seem to know how to just be himself and that's why James continued being friends with him despite how annoying he could be. Sometimes, however, James just wasn't in the mood to deal with his attentiveness.

"Shut up Peter." James sighed and turned around to look up and down Diagon Alley. "Mooney, did you see where Sirius went? The longer we take getting our school supplies, the longer it will be until I get my new broom."

"Where do you think Padfoot is? Probably chasing some skirt up and down Diagon Alley." Remus gave James another pointed look. "I still can't believe the made _you_ Head Boy. Peeves probably would have been a better choice."

James quickly turned around, attempting to smack his friend upside his head. Remus, however, saw what was coming and quickly ducked out of harm's way snickering the whole time. He then straightened himself out and shrugged his shoulders at James.

"Am I wrong? I don't think anyone, even you with your ego as large as it is, expected you to get the position." James gave him an annoyed look,

"Yeah, but it would be nice if my best friends could at least pretend to be supportive. I'm going to get enough crap from everyone else at school." Remus held up his hands in mock surrender, but before he could reply they heard a voice from down the Alley,

"Hey! What're you walking away for? It was a compliment. When I said I liked curvy girls I wasn't calling you fat I was…ouch! Why'd you have to go and do that?"

James and Remus shared a long glance, shook their heads and slowly began to head towards the voce that was getting increasingly louder at time progressed. Before they even approached the scene of the commotion, James could already envision what was going on. Although Sirius never spent many nights alone when they were at school, he often got rejected as many times as he got lucky. His never ending determination was the only thing that kept him in the game because often his rejections ended with a hand print on his cheek and a string of words that would leave most men's ego bruised. This seemed to be one of those times.

"Why do they always have to slap me? A simple 'no thank you' would be just fine!" Sirius exclaimed as he made his way over to his friends as the blonde girl he had been talking to walked off.

"Well it couldn't be because you always manage to insult them somehow or that you keep chasing them even after they do say no." Remus replied with an eye roll. "So I have absolutely no idea why these women act the way that they do."

"Exactly my point Mooney! These birds are crazy I tell you!" Remus pinched the bridge of his nose and made no reply.

"Well Padfoot it's not like you are very smooth with the ladies. I mean everyone knows not to call a girl 'curvy'." James stated snickering at his best friend.

"Look who's talking! You've been chasing Lily since _second_ year was it? How many times has she outright refused you or left a mark on your face? I even remember her dumping her drink on your head a couple times!" Sirius exclaimed with his arms crossed, giving James a pointed look.

"That's only because I listened to you! This year I'm doing things my way." Sirius reached out and gave James a shove, which James returned.

"Alright you two! Let's get moving we still haven't gotten _any_ of our school supplies yet." Remus said, stepping between the two and breaking up what would quickly become a wrestling match in the street.

As the four friends began to make their way through the crowded streets, James let his mind drift away for a moment. He had completely forgotten to consider what Lily would think of all of this. He knew that after the initial shock had worn off about him being Head Boy, she would have to be impressed by his accomplishment. Besides, she always kept telling him to grow up and what was more grown-up than being Head Boy? Now, he didn't really plan to take the position seriously, but as long as she never found that out, she would have no reason not to go on a date with him this year.

Ever since James had really started to notice girls in _that_ way, his focus had solely been on winning over Lily Evans. Now, he had of course dating a few other girls, but that was mostly to try and make Lily jealous. No matter what he did, however, she always turned him down. Instead of deterring him, this made him even more determined to get her to say yes. Outside of Slytherin, she was the only girl at Hogwarts who wasn't attracted to either him or Sirius. This meant that she was special and he was going to do everything he could this year to make her believe that he had finally managed to grow up like she always demanded of him. He just hoped that whoever was made Head Girl didn't expect too much of him so he could pretend to do his duties without wasting too much of his time at all.

"So Mooney when is the first full moon when we get back? I can't wait to go running around the forest again, it's been way too long?" Sirius asked Mooney out of the blue.

"The second week of classes and I can assure you Sirius it has not been too long. May I remind you that it's me who is forced to transform against their own will ever month?" Mooney snapped at Sirius.

"You know what I meant Mooney. I know you don't enjoy our monthly gatherings, but I miss having so much space to run around in!" Sirius pouted and Remus just shook his head, giving up on trying to get Sirius to understand.

"Mooney if you don't want us to come join you this year we don't have to. We are just trying to help." James replied hoping that Remus wouldn't take him up on that offer.

"Its fine James, of course I still want you to come. You guys being around is the only thing that keeps me from attacking myself during the full moon. I just wish you guys wouldn't treat it like some fun party that we go to each month." James patted his friend on the back,

"Sorry Mooney, we will endeavor to treat each full moon as seriously as a funeral." This earned James a shove from Remus.

The four boys then entered the first of many shops that they would need to visit that day to get their school supplies.

* * *

Later that afternoon, after exiting Flourish and Blotts James happened to look to his left and catch a glimpse of some familiar red hair. Without a word to his friends, he immediately began on a path that led him directly to the source of that red hair. He wasn't disappointed because as he approached he saw that the hair he had noticed belonged to Lily Evans. Running his hand through his hair to mess it up a bit, he puffed out his chest slightly and approached Lily with a smirk on his face.

"My dearest Lily! What luck it is seeing you here!" James heard Lily groan a bit before turning around to face him.

"What do you want Potter? Can't I shop for my school supplies in peace?" James ignored the bite in her tone and continued speaking,

"But Lily surely you could take a break to grab some ice cream with Hogwarts' new Head Boy?" Lily rolled her eyes at him,

"How many times do I have to tell you that I will never, not a million years…" She paused for a moment before her eyes widened a fraction as his words sunk in. "Head Boy? You've got to be kidding me Potter! Did you finally take one too many bludgers to the head? No one in your right mind would ever name _you_ Head Boy." James' chest deflated for a second before he plastered another smirk on his face,

"Well then, my dearest Lily flower, you will just have to wait for the beginning of the term and see for yourself. Good day to you!"

James immediately spun on his heal and a left an annoyed and very confused Lily standing in his wake. He saw his friends still standing in front of the store they had just exited, watching the scene play out. Refusing to show any of the defeat that he felt at that moment, he approached his friends with a small grin on his face.

"Well boys I think that went pretty well. She didn't slap me or throw something on me. I really think she is starting to warm up to me." Remus once again pinched the bridge of his nose,

"Prongs I swear you are just as bad as Padfoot here when it comes to dealing with females."

"I thought you did a good job James! I'm sure this year will be the year she says yes to going out with you." Peter spoke up once again. "By the way, can we stop and get some ice cream?"

James was just happy to have the topic changed and challenged his friends to race to the ice cream shop. They all took off running and James used this time to push all thoughts of Lily to the back of his mind because the last thing he wanted was to be ripped on by his friends for letting her complete disbelief get to him.

* * *

"Well boys I do believe it is officially time for the most important part of our day!" James exclaimed.

"Dinner?" Peter's eyes widened with excitement as he asked this question.

"No not dinner. "James gave Peter a shove. "It is time for us to go find my mom and get my new broomstick!"

Luckily, his mother wasn't very hard to find. They found her sitting on a bench outside of the Quidditch supplies store and James ran up to her in a frenzy. Once he skidded to a halt in front of her, she raised her eyebrow,

"So did you get all of our school supplies?" James nodded his head eagerly. "Well…I guess its time to go home then isn't it?"

"Home?" That was the only word James could get out of his mouth that was now hanging down to the floor.

"Did you have something else in mind? If you want to hang out with your friends a bit more I can give you some more time…" James cut her off shaking his head frantically,

"I don't wanna hang out with those guys…"

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed from behind him, James quickly shushed his friend.

"Well if you don't want to go home and you don't want to hang out here, what could you possibly want to do James?" His mother stared at him in confusion and he sputtered,

"But…but…but…broom!" This caused the side of her mouth to quirk up just a bit,

"Use your words James. Do you want to go get your new broom stick?" James felt the air return to his lungs and he glared at his mother.

"That's not fair! You don't get to pull pranks on me." She just laughed,

"I've got to have some fun in my life. Well come on let's go get that broom before you have a heart attack."

James gleefully followed his mother into the supply store. Stationed right in the middle of the shop was the newest racing broom on the market. It was the Nimbus 1500 racing broom and it was the fastest broom ever made. It was said to be the most balanced, most fluid broom ever marketed and James just knew he had to have it from the moment he had first heard about it. Besides, this would be his last year as Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and he needed to make sure that he was the best on the field at all costs.

As his mother went up to the counter to tell the salesman about their purchase, James walked over to the broom and stood there staring at it opened mouthed. He didn't know how long he stood there, but eventually his mother's voice broke him out of his trance.

"…James?...James? If I would have known that a new broom was all it would take to get you to be quiet I would have bought you one every time a new model came out!" James glared at his mother. "Well are you going to take your new broom from this gentleman or are we going to make him stand there and hold it all day?"

James quickly looked to his right and saw the salesperson standing there will his new broom wrapped up in packaging. Hands shaking slightly, James gingerly removed the package from his hands and held it out in front of him. Following his mother out of the store, he made sure to never take his eye off the broom for fear of dropping it as they walked to the nearest floo. As they were walking he heard Remus speak,

"I think he forgot about us." James didn't even glance up as he spoke,

"Have to be careful, can't break my new broom." Remus laughed.

"Well Peter and me are going to stay here for a while. I guess we'll see you and James on the train, Sirius?" James heard Sirius respond, but still did not take his eyes off his package,

"Yeah and maybe by then I'll have detached him from this new broom. Later guys!"

 **A/N: Thank you to everyone who is reading this story so far. I hope you all are enjoying and please remember reviews are always appreciated!**


	3. Pureblood Balls

James tugged at the sleeve of his jacket for the thousandth time since putting it on. He hated wearing dress robes more than he hated Slytherins and that was saying something. No matter how many times he was forced to wear them, he could not escape the suffocating, itchy feeling that these pieces of clothing brought upon him. The clothes were stiff and he supposed that was to server as a reminder of how he was supposed to act tonight, but all it did was make him sweat and become fidgety. There was no possible way he could wear these uncomfortable clothes and still maintain the level of decorum his mother expected from him.

"Master James, youse must stop fidgeting right now! Mistress does not like the itchy scratchy and Leafy cannot get your bowtie on very straight!" James grumbled under his breath, but tried to remain still for the house elf. "Master should be happy. Mistress goes to a lot of trouble throwing party for young master."

"I know Leafy, but I wish she hadn't!" He whined and the house elf gave him a stern look,

"Master James you listen to Leafy. Leafy hasn't seen Mistress so proud since Master James first went off to Hogwarts. Young Master has brought many shames to Mistress with his naughtiness at wizard school. Master needs to go downstairs and behave for Mistress Dory." James hung his head and nodded his consent.

Somehow Leafy always knew what to what to say to make James feel guilty. It wasn't that surprising that the elf knew him so well since the two of them had grown up together. James' parents had always allowed their elves to choose when and if they would choose to have children, unlike many pureblood families who controlled this for breeding purposes. So, about a day before James was born, one of their elves Butterfly had given birth to a daughter. Butterfly and her mate, Grunt, had suggested that Leafy be brought up as James' personal elf since they would be so close in age. After that James and Leafy were pretty much inseparable, except for when James went off to school. So, Leafy quickly learned how to reign the rambunctious James in and how to get him to be on his best behavior.

Not that James really needed the lecture tonight. He knew that if he tried to be anything except a perfect gentleman at one of his mother's parties he would have a better chance of survival if he faced a dragon on his own. It wasn't very often that his mother showed her Black side, apparently marring her father had toned that down quite a bit. Every so often, however, when there was a special occasion Dorea Black reared her ugly head and everyone in the society pages was invited to a party at the Potter estate. This meant that all of the residents of the Potter house, Sirius included, had to dress up in their best formal wear and put to use those manners that every pureblood learned, but were often absent from the Potter household. This meant a lot of fake niceties and handshaking with people that James would really rather avoid.

The one good thing about tonight was that Sirius' parents had politely declined the invitation they had received, stating that their son Regulus had fallen ill. Everyone knew the real reason they had declined, but as always this was overlooked with fake smiles and platitudes. This was the main thing that James hated about pureblood society. Everyone always had to pretend they liked each other and that they were all best friends. This meant that James would have to play nice with a bunch of Slytherins all night. Even though everyone knew they were evil, the Potter family had a long standing tradition of being gray family and therefore associated with everyone in the pureblood circles, unless t benefited them not to. Even his father, who not as societal as his mother, would meet up to play cards with some Slytherins that James would never associate with in his life. No matter what his parents tried to tell him, James believed there was good and evil in the world and a person could only be on one side or the other.

Sighing, James looked at himself in the mirror one last time, straightened up his back, and turned to leave his room. Out in the hallway, he found Sirius fiddling with his bowtie in the mirror, looking extremely frustrated. As James approached, Sirius turned and gave James his largest puppy dog eyes,

"Do I really have to go down there?" James rolled his eyes,

"If I have to go down there you have to go down there. Besides, you are a guest in this house. Are you really going to embarrass my mother by not making an appearance?" Sirius' shoulders sagged,

"No, but why is she even throwing this party in the first place? I thought by getting out of my parents' house I would be getting away from all this pureblood crap." James leaned against the wall with an eyebrow raised,

"You knew exactly well that my mother often indulged herself with these kinds of parties. We first met at one of these gatherings when we were young." Sirius hung his head,

"Yeah but…fine, but only for Mummy Potter. Let's just go and get this over with."

Both boys took a deep breath in and the change that fell over them was immediate. Instead of looking like the two goofballs they normally did, both of them looked like young men with an air of sophistication that could only be brought about by good breeding. The both held their heads high and walked with confidence, never stumbling or second guessing themselves. As the made their way downstairs and entered the main ballroom, both saw he eyes of many of the female guests, young and old, turn to watch them. Placing a charming smile on his face, he separated from Sirius who had turned to offer his hand to a young witch. Scanning the room, he found his father standing over near the refreshments table and made his way swiftly across the room.

"Good evening father." He outstretched his hand and his father shook it before chuckling,

"It's good to see those etiquette lesson when you were younger didn't totally go to waste. I was expecting to be zapped or something." James' smirked,

"Father, you know I would never act in such a way as to embarrass mother. Speaking of which, do you know where she is?" Charlus Potter returned his son's smirk,

"I believe she was over on the other side of the ballroom, entertaining some friends. Also, I am sure she would just love to see your impeccable display of manners, son."

Without another word, James made his way across the room and spotted his mother sitting at a small table talking to a few of her friends. Straightening out his jacket, he approached her with his hand outstretched. When she didn't acknowledge him, he coughed and she glanced up. 

"Oh James! I was just telling these ladies all about your accomplishment in being named Head Boy!" Nodding his head to the group of ladies James spoke to his mother,

"Mother, would you care to dance with me?" Knowing she would politely decline due to her inherent clumsiness on the dance floor, James continued, "And please remember, it would be extremely rude to refuse my offer as this lovely party you have thrown is in my name."

Narrowing her eyes only slightly, Dorea Potter placed an elegant smile on her face and put her hand in his while rising from her seat. She gracefully followed him out to the dance floor, but immediately began to follow over her own feet as he led her around the room. Ripping or stepping on his feet every other step, his mother gripped his shoulder particularly hard and spoke,

"James Charlus Potter this is not funny. I went to great lengths to throw you this lovely party and you must still torment me!" James could hear a bit of playfulness in her voice, so he replied back,

"But mother! I asked you to dance with me merely as a way to say thank you for this lovely event you are holding in my honor." At that moment the song ended, and fully prepared to let his mother sit once more, James heard a voice from behind him speak,

"Mrs. Potter, would be so kind as to grace me with this next dance?" Although he saw his mother biting back a sigh, he watched as she took Lucius Malfoy's hand and began to move around the dancefloor once more.

James moved slowly to the outskirts of the dancing area, never taking his eyes off Lucius and his mother for one second. Although Lucius had been in his seventh year when James had just first started Hogwarts, James had known Lucius as long as he could remember. It wasn't often, but when his mother either dragged James to society events or held them herself, the Malfoy's were always present and no matter how much time had passed they were still slimy little snakes. James' parents never wanted to listen to James though. When he tried to speak out against people like the Malfoy's his mother would always reply,

"Dear you just don't like him because he accidentally made you fall into that punch when you were younger."

James, however, knew for a fact that the young Malfoy heir had purposefully tripped him, causing him to go flying into the punch bowl. This was not the reason James didn't like the Malfoy's, though. The Malfoy's were a dark family and they always had been. All of their close associates were dark and to James this meant they were not to be trusted. The Malfoy's were also always in Slytherin, the house that had produced more dark wizards than any other house at Hogwarts. Overlooking his mother and Sirius, who were clearly the exceptions, anyone who came from Dark families were bound to be evil and rotten. This is why James kept his eyes fixed on Lucius and his mother until she gracefully bowed out and Lucius began making his way over to where James was standing.

"Good evening James. It has been much too long since I have last seen you. I trust that your time at Hogwarts has been going well?" James knew Lucius was just trying to catch him breaking etiquette and was determined not to give him any fuel,

"Hogwarts has been going very well thank you. I am in my last year and then I will be applying to become an auror. I'm going to dedicate my time to catching dark wizards." James said this casually, but saw Lucius' eyes narrow slightly,

"That is brilliant cousin. I must say though, one should be careful in these dark times. You never know what might happen to you when you back is turned." James let a growl escape his lips,

"Is that a threat?" Chuckling Lucius shook his head,

"No dear cousin, merely an observation. I, however, see that you need a moment to recompose yourself, so I shall leave you to do so."

James glanced to his left and saw a few ladies whispering amongst themselves while glancing over at him. He sighed. He knew that this bit of rudeness would make it back to his mother and he would never hear the end of it. Scoping out the room, he found Sirius sitting at a table by himself, staring at a group of witches huddled in close proximity to him. James quickly made his over to his best friend and sat down next to him.

"Is tonight over?" Without looking away from the girls, Sirius shook his head,

"What's going on Prongs?"

"Lucius stinking Malfoy, that's what. He asked my mother to dance and then came over and pretty much threatened me. I responded and now I'm never going to hear the end of it from my mother when it gets back to her." Sirius laughed,

"Well at least I won't have to hear it. I've been the perfect gentleman tonight." James rolled his eyes,

"You, the perfect gentleman? That's a laugh Padfoot. Being a gentleman does not mean snogging a bird in the broom closet." Sirius gave James a small shove,

"It wasn't the broom closet, it was an empty hallway and no one else knows about it, so for all you mum knows I was a perfect gentleman all evening."

"Well the night is still young Padfoot, there are still many chances for you to mess up."

At that moment James heard the music stop and quickly looked around the room for the nearest escape. Before he could find one, however, he heard his mother begin to speak to the entire room. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he waiting for what he knew would be inevitable,

"…son James was made Head Boy this year. So everyone please give him a round of applause and James please come up here to the front of the room."

Shaking off the urge to flee, James navigated through the large room until he was standing up at the front with his mother and father. Clearing his throat, he followed his mother cues and began to address the room,

"Thank you all for coming here tonight to celebrate this achievement with me. I am very honored to have you all here and I hope that you enjoy your evening."

Following another round of polite clapping, everyone returned to dancing and mingling with one another. A few hours later, although it felt like an eternity to James, he finally was able to fall onto his bed. Laying there unmoving, he tried to rid himself of the massive headache that he had. It was at that moment he promised himself, no matter what it took, he would not associate with people who acted this like this when he became the head of his own household. He would only surround himself with light families and people who did not care for the falseness of pureblood society. Even though he knew that this was how his mother was raised and that the Potter's were a gray family, he would not be a part of it if he could help it.

Besides, at Hogwarts he was never god with the politicking that his parents always did. He would much rather spend his time pranking people and having fun with his friends. Decisions like this were a long way off too because no one could expect him to start picking sides right out of Hogwarts. He was still young and was going to keep having fun with his life. So for now, though, he would just be glad that he would be returning to Hogwarts in a few day's time where he could just be James Potter, not James Potter the pureblood.

 **A/N: As always thank you for reading! I know I may be taking some liberties with James' character and home life, but using the assumption (canon or not) that Dorea Black was his mother, I've always thought that James would have been steeped in pureblood society at least a little bit. I also think that unless Dorea was a black sheep (which would have meant she was blown off the tapestry and she wasn't) she and Charlus would have to at least been gray if they weren't dark. So, this is just my take on the life of James Potter and all of things that we wish we knew but don't!**

 **Reviews are always welcome!**


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